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Pasadena, Calif. -- Fox has created a new unit to develop and produce alternative animated series for a new late-night programming block and digital multi-platform network, it was announced here Sunday.
The network has hired Nick Weidenfeld, the former head of program development for Adult Swim to run the new unit, along with producer Hend Baghdady to be the executive in charge of production for the new division.
The late-night programming block will air Saturdays from11 p.m.-12:30 a.m. with four new animated series per season starting January 2013 including 11-minute shorts and 22-minute series.
The digital channel, which will launch in 2012, will cover the platforms of online, mobile apps, game consoles and video on demand and include 50 original shorts per year, online windows for Fox animated series and user-adapted content.
Reilly said the impetus for creating the new unit was as a way to be in business with talent they didn't have room for in their Sunday night animation lineup and to build a bench of series that could step in when long-running franchises like The Simpsons and Family Guy finally go off the air. While the unit was not designed to be an incubator, Reilly said it may in fact end up being just that.
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